Masato Kawabata
Nationality Japan
Born (1977-10-15) October 15, 1977
Osaka, Osaka Prefecture
D1 Grand Prix career
Debut season2002
Current teamTeam TOYO TIRES DRIFT
Former teamsTRUST
Wins17
Previous series
2017-2019

2019,2021
FIA Intercontinental Drifting Cup
Russian Drift Series
Championship titles
2007 2013 2015
2017
D1GP Series Champion

FIA Intercontinental Drifting Cup
Kawabata's S15 Silvia with 2005 livery

Masato Kawabata (川畑 真人, Kawabata Masato, 15 October 1977, in Osaka) is a Japanese professional drifting driver, currently competing in the D1 Grand Prix series for Team TOYO TIRES DRIFT.

Biography

Kawabata first received his license at 18 and at that point he bought the Nissan 180SX. He practiced alone until he met late D1 driver Atsushi Kuroi who started to teach and advise Kawabata. At age 19, Kawabata entered a drift magazine sponsored contest and took first place. At 21, GP Sports started to sponsor Kawabata with a full line of aero parts and later he work for them moving from his hometown to Niigata where GP Sports based. Kawabata and first appeared in the D1 Grand Prix in round 4 of 2002.[1]

Kawabata was hired by Trust to replace Hideo Hiraoka and drove an S15 Silvia built by GP Sports, he took his first win at Fuji Speedway in 2006[2] and went on to finish 4th in the overall points. In 2007 he did even better however winning two rounds and the overall title by one point over Nobushige Kumakubo.

In 2008 he change his car to 180SX in second round in Fuji which he drove until 2013 where he win his second title

In 2014 TRUST return and collaborate with Toyo Tires and he started to participate in D1GP with Nissan GT-R in 2014 and also left GP Sports in same year. The following year the Kawabata clinched his third D1GP title in penultimate round.

2016 was difficult year for him as Daigo Saito went to dominate the series. Despite able to beat Saito in exhibition event he went winless for the second time in 3 years and he finished the season 2nd in standings. He also started his own shop called True Man Racing (True Man is rough english translation of his name) and collaborating with fellow D1 driver Hideyuki Fujino they released a bodykit for Nissan 180SX called Kick Blue.

Following the defeat from previous year Trust built Kawabata new GT-R for 2017 season while his previous car was driven by returning Masao Suenaga, Toyo Tires as tires sponsor also released new Proxes R888R for competition. He win the third round in Tsukuba which his only win in the season, he end the season 5th in standings. But in same year he became the first driver to win FIA Intercontinental Drift Championship held in Odaiba which is first ever drift event held by FIA.

In 2018 Kawabata win 6 straight Solo Run creating a new record but unfortunately in Battle Run he failed to win a single run and lost the D1GP title to Masashi Yokoi.

In 2019, following Trust withdrawal he competing in the D1GP with Toyota GR Supra and became the first person to win D1GP round with it the following year. Unfortunately his performance keep getting worse as season goes. He change his car to new Toyota GR86 in 2022 built by his teammate Hideyuki Fujino where he gave GR86 first ever win in Drift competition, finished the season as runner-up claiming two wins and the Solo Run champions.

2007 Fuji Speedway accident

In 2007, at round 2, held in Fuji Speedway, during a sudden death round against Daigo Saito, Saito dipped into the inner apex of the 300R corner and jumped the curb of the track. His car's front wheels lost traction, which resulted in the car to understeer and collect Kawabata's Silvia into the tyre barrier in the process, effectively destroying both cars.

The impact between the cars and when they were hurled into the track protection barrier happened at speeds of over 150 km/h. Kawabata immediately come out from his car but fell to the ground just as he walk out and had to be taken to hospital for treatment for whiplash injuries, Saito miraculously evaded any physical damages. the

Kawabata won the battle which he was unable to continue, leaving Atsushi Kuroi without an opponent. For the following round, he returned with a new car and took the win at the next round at Sportsland SUGO.[3][4]

Complete Drifting Results

ColourResult
GoldWinner
Silver2nd place
Bronze3rd place
GreenLast 4 [Semi-final]
BlueLast 8 [Quarter-final]
PurpleLast 16 (16) [1st Tsuiou Round OR Tandem Battle]
(Numbers are given to indicate Top 10 finish)
BlackDisqualified (DSQ)
(Given to indicate that the driver has been stripped of their position through disqualification)
WhiteFirst Round (TAN) [Tansou OR Qualifying Single Runs]
RedDid not qualify (DNQ)
  • When driver's position are highlighted in blue, this indicates either the driver earned 100pt or 100pt tansou (solo run) bonus has been awarded, with the latter being in use for Pre-2005.

D1 Grand Prix

Year Entrant Car 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Position Points
2002 Nissan 180SX BHH
EBS
EBS
SGO
DNQ
TKB
DNQ
SEK
NIK
NC 0
2003 Silk Road Nissan 180SX TKB
DNQ
BHH
DNQ
SGO
DNQ
FUJ
TAN
EBS
TAN
SEK
TKB
DNQ
NC 0
2004 Silk Road Toyota Sprinter Trueno AE86 IRW
TAN
23rd 4
GReddy/GP Sports/Toyo Tires Nissan Silvia S15 SGO
TAN
EBS
DNQ
APS
9
ODB
DNQ
EBS
16
TKB
DNQ
2005 GReddy/GP Sports/Toyo Tires Nissan Silvia S15 IRW
16
ODB
4
SGO
9
APS
7
EBS
TAN
FUJ
3
TKB
5
4th 55
2006 GReddy/GP Sports/Toyo Tires Nissan Silvia S15 IRW
5
SGO
16
FUJ
6
APS
TAN
EBS
4
SUZ
8
FUJ
1
IRW
16
4th 69
2007 GReddy/GP Sports/Toyo Tires Nissan Silvia S15 EBS
2
FUJ
4
SUZ
6
SGO
1
EBS
5
APS
1
FUJ
16
1st 100
2008 GP Sports/Toyo Tires Nissan 180SX RPS13 EBS
1
FUJ
TAN
SUZ
15
OKY
11
APS
3
EBS
FUJ
6th 54
2009 Team TOYO TIRES DRIFT Nissan 180SX RPS13 EBS
14
APS
10
OKY
5
OKY
5
EBS
15
EBS
15
FUJ
1
FUJ
1
6th 93
2016 TOYO TIRES DRIFT TRUST RACING Nissan R35 ODB
2
FUJ
2
TKB
3
TKB
8
EBS
9
EBS
3
ODB
2
2nd 133
2017 TOYO TIRES GLION TRUST RACING Nissan R35 ODB
5
ODB
4
TKB
1
MSI
13
EBS
14
EBS
7
ODB
6
5th 106

Russian Drift Series GP

Year Entrant Car 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Position Points
2019 Forward Auto Nissan 180SX MRW
ATR
NRING
ADM
RRING
SOC
6

26 262
2021 Forward Auto Nissan 180SX MRW
19
NRING
13
IGORA
11
ATR
7
RRING
ADM
SOC
19 328

References

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